Venerable Mary of Egypt in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

The hymnography of the Church, through the pen of Saint Theophanes the Hymnographer, is devoted, on the feast of Venerable Mary, to the description of her astonishing transformation: from debauchery to the heights of spiritual life, as well as to the recording of her experiences from the corresponding periods of her “before Christ and after Christ” life. One hymn, in fact, from Ode 3 presents the Venerable one in her former sinful life as Eve, who disobeyed the will of God and sinned, but in her later sanctified life as the thirsty deer that runs to the springs of the waters. And what is the point that is common in both periods? The wood. The first wood, the tree, which through sin led to the initiation of death: what happened with the first-created humans; the second, the wood of the Cross of the Lord, which led to deep faith in Christ and the finding of true life. “Having approached the wood of sin,” says the Holy Hymnographer specifically, “and having been initiated into deadly knowledge, you ran to the wood that gives life, to the Cross of the Lord, crying out to Him: You are our God, and there is none righteous besides You, O Lord.”

Where did the problem lie in the first period of Mary’s life? In the turning of her mind only toward evil, which means the cultivation of those improper, passion-filled thoughts that always result in the impurity of the soul and its enslavement to the passions and to the devil (Ode 1). Mary, influenced by the ancient serpent, had literally taken the downward path and her descent into the abyss of perdition (Ode 1). She did not take her Creator into account at all, and thus she unfortunately became a means of destruction for many others as well, especially young people (Ode 1). Her condition was such that it is expressed by the Lord in the most dramatic and absolute way: “Woe to him through whom the scandal comes,” woe to the one who becomes the cause of another’s spiritual stumbling, and: “It would be better for such a person to tie a millstone around his neck and depart from this life!”

Homily on Humility for the Fifth Sunday of Great Lent (St. Sergius Mechev)

Homily on Humility for the Fifth Sunday of Great Lent 

By Holy Hieromartyr Sergius Mechev

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit!

The Holy Church concludes its guidance of us as we pass through the great school of the Fast, pointing out to us the examples of two great ascetics of spiritual labor, whom we must imitate — John of the Ladder and Mary of Egypt — yet on this last Sunday it reminds us also of one more necessary condition of spiritual labor.

You heard in today’s Gospel reading how Christ, being on the way to Jerusalem, said to His disciples: “The Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes… and they will mock Him, and beat Him, and spit upon Him, and kill Him…” (Mark 10:33–34). And the disciples “were astonished, and as they followed Him, they were afraid.”

And then, having heard about the resurrection, the sons of Zebedee came to Him and said: “We want You to do for us whatever we ask.” He said to them: “What do you want Me to do for you?” They said to Him: “Grant us that we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory.” After the Lord answered them that this is not for Him to give, “but for those for whom it is prepared,” and the other disciples, hearing the request of the sons of Zebedee, were indignant at them, the Lord called them all and said: “You know that those who are considered rulers of the nations lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you: whoever desires to be great among you shall be your servant; and whoever desires to be first among you shall be the servant of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:42–45).

Church of Saint Mary of Egypt in the Samaria Gorge of Crete

The small single-nave arched temple of Mary of Egypt is located in the deserted settlement of Samaria, within the imposing Samaria Gorge, accessed by a short path. According to one theory, the name Samaria derives from the corruption of the Greek form of her name: Osia Maria (Venerable Mary) was shortened to Samaria. The church celebrates on April 1st, when several mountaineering clubs of Crete participate in the festival. In recent years the exterior has undergone renovations to welcome visitors and preserve its structure.

Its interior is covered with frescoes from the first half of the 14th century, which is a work of a folk-style hagiographer. It includes scenes from the Gospel cycle of the Life of Christ (Transfiguration, Betrayal, Ascension, Entombment, Descent to Hades, Crucifixion, Birth, Escape to Egypt, Secret Supper, Lazarus Rising, Reception), various saints, and Mary of Egypt being communed by Abba Zosimas.

 

April: Day 1: Teaching 2: Venerable Mary of Egypt

 

April: Day 1: Teaching 2:
Venerable Mary of Egypt
 
(A Model of Repentance)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Who does not know the wondrous life of Mary of Egypt? Who does not know into what depth of evils she descended, to what height of virtues she afterward ascended, and how this astonishing transition took place? Let us not recount what is probably known to all, but rather set forth only the principal truths, relating to the labor of repentance, which this instructive life reminds us of.

II. a) The first truth is that repentance is always possible for us. However great and numerous our vices may be, however long we may have already served lawlessness, however deeply rooted and inveterate we may have become in evil — we can always come to our senses and turn to God with a prayer for mercy. For seventeen years, the freshest and most flourishing years of her life, Mary gave herself over to sins without repentance. And how did she give herself over? To what sins? It seemed that she had lost all shame; it seemed that she had completely driven the fear of God from her heart and entirely stifled the voice of conscience within herself. The name of Mary was covered with universal disgrace. Yet even this soul, seemingly lost, was able to repent: why then should we not repent? Perhaps our sins are less than Mary’s sins — then repentance is all the easier for us. And even if not less, even if greater? Mary came to herself and began to repent when she was striving to enter the church to venerate the life-giving wood of the Cross of the Lord: the Holy Cross — this anchor of salvation for sinners — is always with us; the blood of Jesus Christ, crucified on the Cross, is able to cleanse us “from every sin” (John 2:1). Let us only cry out to Him, like Mary, with living faith in His merits on the Cross and hope in His mercy.

Prologue in Sermons: April 1

On How Saving Is the Contrition of Heart and Sorrow for Sins

April 1

(A Word on the Repentance of Sinners)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

It is not in vain that the word of God and the Holy Fathers, when speaking of the impurity of the soul, compare it with bodily impurity; and it is not in vain that, when speaking of the repentance of a sinner and the cleansing of the defilements of sin by repentance, they compare this cleansing with bodily washing. Indeed: just as bodily impurity is harmful to health, unpleasant to the sight of others, and can be infectiously harmful to others, so also sinful impurity is deadly for the soul, repugnant to virtuous people, and likewise can be destructive for many. And just as bodily washing contributes to the health of the body and makes its appearance bright and pleasing, so also the washing of the soul from the defilements of sin contributes to the salvation of the soul and is beneficial also for others, giving them a saving example and stirring in them good emulation.

Homily for the Fifth Sunday Evening of Great Lent (St. Sergius Mechev)

Homily for the Fifth Sunday Evening of Great Lent 

By Holy Hieromartyr Sergius Mechev

(Delivered in 1929)

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit!

In the work of repentance, my dear ones, we must distinguish two moments. One of them is the turning of the sinner to God with supplication as to a physician: “Heal, O Lord, my soul, for I have sinned against You.” This supplication was present both in the Prodigal Son and in our Venerable Mother Mary of Egypt, whom we glorify this week. This moment of the sinner’s turning is characterized by the fact that the sinner, in turning with supplication to God, enters into a secret covenant with Him. Such a covenant was made both by the Prodigal Son and by Mary of Egypt.

But all our life proceeds through repentance, and through it the original beauty of countenance is restored to a man, and from here again there is a path either to sin or to God. The “imaginary soul” strives to displace everything holy and real. Even after conversion, a question arises for a person: how to live? — and a struggle begins between the “imaginary soul” and the “true soul.” Every life is characterized by struggle. If there is no struggle, there is no life. And we, my dear ones, are all inclined to return to the former path. Just as a cancerous tumor strives to fill the whole organism, so the soul infected by sin strives to displace the true soul, and the struggle begins.

Homily for the Fourth Sunday Evening of Great Lent (St. Sergius Mechev)

 

Homily for the Fourth Sunday Evening of Great Lent 

By Holy Hieromartyr Sergius Mechev

(Delivered in 1929)

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit!

I told you, my dear ones, that a penitent truly enters into repentance only when he sees that his soul, created according to the Image of God and after His likeness, bears within itself death and corruption. Thus the holy ascetics, who truly struggled against the death of their soul and indeed went from earth to heaven, in this podvig (ascetic struggle) imposed punishments upon themselves as an aid. This happened with them naturally, and they did this in order to cleanse their soul already in this life. Venerable John of the Ladder says that the penitent is an inventor of punishments for himself. You all know well that in bodily illnesses medicine applies difficult means: operations or certain medicines, or the sick person is deprived of all food for a long time, even drink is forbidden. Thus a man is constrained in illness, and by this, little by little, health is restored. And if there were no regimen, the person would not recover, as medicine says. So the holy saints — “madmen” according to the world — voluntarily imposed upon themselves the greatest labors. And so I would like, my dear ones, to present a series of such examples from the lives of the holy saints. These were strong people, and when they sinned, they brought true repentance. And for us, small people, their example can give very much.

Homily One for the Fourth Saturday Evening of Great Lent (St. Sergius Mechev)

Homily One for the Fourth Saturday Evening of Great Lent 

By Holy Hieromartyr Sergius Mechev

(Delivered in 1929)

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit!

On this present day, according to the Lenten Triodion, the commemoration of our Venerable father John of the Ladder is appointed, and according to the Menaion — the commemoration of our Venerable Mother Mary of Egypt. Thus two commemorations are combined today: the remembrance of the teacher of repentance and of a great sinner who became a great righteous one. We, my dear ones, repent poorly because we do not attend to ourselves, according to the words of John of the Ladder, but all our gaze is directed outward. Venerable John of the Ladder says that even in the Old Testament there was a commandment of attention to oneself. And now, in our time, this lack of attention to ourselves reaches the highest degree. All our gaze is turned outward, and this is, of course, aided by all events, as well as by difficult conditions. Yet the Kingdom of God is within us. As long as Venerable Mary of Egypt was in great sins, and her soul was turned outward, of course there could be no conversion. But when she turned her attention inward, to her soul — she felt sin.

Holy Hieromartyr Hypatios of Gangra in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

Our Venerable Father Hypatios was born in Cilicia and was the Bishop of Gangra. He was present at the First Ecumenical Synod in Nicea (325) and was renowned by all for his pious life and miracle-working. The Emperor Constantius ordered that a likeness of Hypatius be made during the Saint’s lifetime. The emperor kept the likeness in his palace as a weapon against all adverse powers. Once, upon returning from Constantinople, Hypatios was attacked in a narrow gorge by Novatian heretics and was thrown from the road into the mud. At that moment a woman from that group struck him on the head with a stone, and thus the Saint died. Immediately the woman went insane and took that same stone and struck herself with it. When they took her to the grave of Saint Hypatios, he interceded before God on her behalf. She was healed by the greatly compassionate soul of Hypatios, and lived the remainder of her life in repentance and prayer. Saint Hypatius was martyred in the year 326. 

A great wonderworker was Saint Hypatios, one of the God-bearing Fathers of the First Ecumenical Synod, together with Saint Athanasios, Saint Spyridon, Saint Nicholas, Saint Alexander. This means that the Saint had a special illumination in his heart, so as both to proclaim the truth against the heretic Arius and all the offshoots of his demonic heresy — the truth concerning Jesus Christ as the incarnate God — and to become a pure channel of God for the performance of wondrous signs for the sake of his fellow human beings in need. And this is because, of course, no one can see the truth about Christ without the illumination of God — “no one can confess Jesus as God without the light of the Holy Spirit,” the Apostle Paul will say — and no one can acquire the gift of wonderworking without having a pure heart through which the Almighty God acts in him and in the world.